Charles h



(No Model.)

G. H DAL'Bf GAR GOUPLING. No.494,12-5. Patented Mar. 28, 1893.

H/J ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

CHARLES H. DALE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 494,125, dated March 28, 1893. Application led December 22, 1892- Serial No. 456,016. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom t may concern.-

Beit known that I, CHARLES H. DALE, of New York, county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Couplers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to car couplers of the class having a swinging knuckle adapted to engage with another coupler and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of parts for locking and also swinging the knuckle open after releasing the same.

I will describe a car coupler embodying my improvement and then point out the novel features in claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a top plan view of a coupler, embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2, 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sect-ion on the line 4, 4, of Fig. l. Fig. 5 is a detail.

Referring by letter to the drawings A designates a coupler head having the rearwardly extending shank portion a, the forwardly extending horn a and the forwardly extending bearing blocks a2. The hollow horn a has an integral transverse bridge or wall a3 which serves to give it strength.

B shows the knuckle substantially elbow shaped and fulcrumed at its angle, by means of a pin b, between the bearing blocks a2. The bearings of the yknuckle have double bevels b', b2 and the bearing blocks have corresponding bevels.

C designates .a vertically arranged rock shaft having a dog or block C extending at right angles from it and movable in a horizontal plane to engage and lock the knuckle in a closed position.

The rock shaft C has a bearing at its lower end in the lower wall of the head A and is extended upward through a bearing in the upper wall of the head A. At its outer end the rock shaft is provided with a lever C2 by means of which it may be oscillated or rocked. The lever C2 may have a chain extended from it to a connection with a part of a car. The chain will automatically open the coupling should the coupling be broken. I have shown the dog or block C as detachably secured to the, rock shaft. It has a collar or yoke c at one end through which the rock shaft passes.

A pin c passing through a hole in the collar or yoke c into the rock shaft secures the dog or block to the shaft.

I have made the parts described detachable so that the rock shaft may be inserted in place. In placing the parts in position the rock shaft is passed through the bearing in the upper wall of the head A, then through the collar or yoke c and then inserted in its lower bearing. The pin c may then be inserted.

After oscillating or rocking the shaft C to release the knuckle and upon releasing the lever O2 the rock shaft must return to its normal position. I provide for this by means of an inclined plane or inclined planes which will impart an upward vertical motion to the rock shaft as it is oscllated by means of the lever O2, and upon releasing said lever the rock shaft will move downward by gravity and the inclined plane or planes will cause it to oscillate to return the dog or block C to a locking or normal position.

I have shown two vertically inclined planes o2 projecting from the inner side of the lower wall of the head A, and longitudinally curved around the rock shaft, and the rock shaft at its lower portion is provided with two inclined planes c3, arranged reversely to the inclines c2. Obviously these inclined planes will operate to oscillate the shaft O when it is released.

In the operation of coupling cars the head of an opposite coupler section comes in contact with the knuckle B and swings it to a closed position. In doing so the end of` the inner portion b3 of the knuckle Bwill engage the front side of the dog or block Cand turn it, with the rock shaft, so that the end of the part b3 may pass beyond the end of the dog or block, and then the dog or block will be automatically returned, as described, to its normal position with the end bearing against the sideof the portion h3 of the knuckle thus locking the knuckle.

I provide means for automatically swinging the knuckle open for the purpose of putting the parts in position for coupling cars. This means consists, as here shown, of a link D having a lost motion connection between the knuckle and the locking dog or block.

The link D has a pivotal connection with the knuckle, near the hole made in the knuckle for the passage of the pin I), as at d.

The link D has a lost motion connection with the dog or block C. It extends over the top of the block and has a downwardly turned hook end d to engage between lingers d2 on the rear side of the block. The link is supported and guided by passing loosely through a loop d3 depending from the upper wall of the head A.

It will be seen that when the dog or block is in its normal or locking position, the hook or stop d will be at a distance rearward of' the fingers d2, so that the said hook or stop will not engage with the fingers until the dog or block shall have been moved past the end of the portion 193 of the knuckle. When the hook or stop d engages with the fingers a further oscillation of the rock shaft will draw the link longitudinally and swing the knuckle o en.

pA chain (J4 extends from the end of the lever C2 to any convenient part of a car, so that a train man may operate the lever by said chain.

I-Iaving described my invention, what I claim isl. In a car coupler the combination with a coupler head and a swinging knuckle, of a vertically extending rock shaft, having an inclined plane on its lower portion, an inclined plane, extending from the lower wall of the coupler head, and coacting with the first named inclined plane, and a locking dog or block extending from the rock shaft, substantially as specified.

2. In a car coupler the combination with a coupler head and a swinging knuckle, of the vertically extending rock shaft, an inclined plane for oscillating the shaft to a normal position, a locking dog or block extending from the rock shaft, and the link having a pivotal connection with the knuckle and a lost motion engagement with the dog or block, substantially as specied.

3. In a car coupler the combination with the coupler head having the bearing blocks provided with the double bevels b', h2, and the knuckle having the corresponding bevels, substantially as specified.

4. In a car coupler the combination with the head and the knuckle of the dog or block, the vertical rock shaft carrying the same, the lever on the rock shaft and the operating chain attached to the car body, substantially as specified. y

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES H. DALE. Witnesses:

CLARENCE R. FERGUSON, WILLIAM M. ILIEE. 

